bounty means generosity; also (countable) an act of generosity. It carries an Arena rating of 1520, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, bounty ranks #1,921 of 14,340 for Most Vivid Words, #2,737 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,514 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #5,164 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words.
bounty is pronounced /ˈbaʊnti/.
Why “bounty” is a great word
A sum of money offered as a formal reward, especially by an authority, for the capture or killing of a person or animal. From Middle English bounte ("goodness, generosity"), borrowed from Anglo-Norman bounté and Old French bonté, from Latin bonitās ("goodness"), from bonus ("good"). Unlike a simple "reward" for effort or service, or the abstract quality of "generosity," a bounty is a specific pecuniary lure cast by the state or its proxies to incentivize a punitive act. It is the yellowed poster nailed to a sun-bleached board, the clink of coin in a purser’s palm, and the encrypted message offering cryptocurrency for a hacker's location—the word remembers its gentler origins even as it hardens into something institutional, a price tag placed on existence itself.
Etymology
From Middle English bounte (“goodness, virtue; beauty; strength; chivalry, valour; excellence; kindness, mercy; good deed; generosity”) [and other forms], borrowed from Anglo-Norman bounté and Old French bonté, bontet, bunté (modern French bonté (“goodness, kindness”)), from Latin bonitās.
noun
- Generosity; also (countable) an act of generosity.“[H]is [Henry I, Duke of Guise's] gifts, though conferred for the interest of his ambition, appeared always scattered with an easy bounty.”
- Something given liberally; a gift.“[...] We have given and granted, and by theſe Preſents for Us, Our Heirs, and Succeſſors, do give and grant unto the ſaid Governors of the Bounty of Queen ANNE, for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the poor Clergy, hereby conſtituted, and their Succeſſors, all the Revenues of Firſt Fruits and yearly perpetual Tenths of all Dignities, Offices, Benefices, and Promotions Spiritual whatſoever, [”
- A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.“Let us therefore conſider ſeparately the encouraging of exportation of corn by bounties, the allowing it to be exported without any bounty, and the prohibiting it to be exported at all in certain caſes— [...] It is not for the ſake of the farmer, but for the good of the nation at large, that this bounty [for exporting corn] is granted. The idea is, that it is more adviſeable to have food raiſed at”
- A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.; A monetary reward for capturing (or, in the past, killing) a person accused or convicted of a crime and who is at large; also, a similar reward for capturing or killing an animal which is dangerous or causing a nuisance.“Whatever may be said in favor of bounties on the larger beasts of prey, those on hawks, owls, and the smaller fur-bearing animals can not be justified. Payments of this sort should cease, and laws should be enacted to protect species which careful investigations have shown to be mainly beneficial. [...] The payment of bounties on hawks of any kind is open to the objection that officials hardly eve”
- A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.; Money paid to a person when becoming a member of the armed forces, or as a reward for some service therein.“It was in the army to which bounties were thus given to privates, that the memorialists were officers; and gallant officers the history of that war amply proves they were. If the soldiers of that army and even the heirs of those who volunteered their services for a given and short period, but who were killed or died in service, had such large recognized claims on the bounty of the nation, it is no”
- An abundance or wealth.“The bounty of Texas consists of a state full of rich living and traditions, stretching centuries back to the Indians, through the Spanish, Mexicans, and Anglos, to all the many nationalities that moved in and then spread out through Texas and the Southwest.”
verb
- To offer a monetary reward for the capturing or killing of.
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